If You Can Cut A Watermelon, You Might Be Studio Ghibli Material

Apparently, Studio Ghibli doesn’t follow orthodox interview procedures. One applicant, Yonebayashi, told Livedoor News that at one point in a final interview with Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki he was asked to sharpen a pencil. The pencil and its shavings were collected by the studio at the end of the process. As translated by Kotaku, Yonebayashi says, “It seemed like the test was more like to see whether or not we could correctly do commonplace things.”

But that’s not standard for everyone. It changes from applicant to applicant. One person, for example, was asked to cut a watermelon. I have to admit I’d probably fail that test because I would make a huge mess. I don’t have the first idea about the proper way to cut one. If you ever get to the last round of interviews with Ghibli (assuming they’re still around given their uncertain future), maybe you could take some pre-cut watermelon just in case. And don’t worry if they hand you a mango. We’ve got you covered there.